Lynn Rapaport

Henry Snyder Professor of Sociology
With Pomona Since: 1989
  • Expertise

    Expertise

    Lynn Rapaport is a noted scholar of the Holocaust and its representations in popular culture. Her research has focused for many years on the Holocaust, genocide and sociology of culture. Her current project analyzes how the Holocaust is portrayed in movies, TV, comic strips and other forms of popular culture from the 1940s to present day.

    Research Interests

    • The Holocaust
    • Genocide
    • Sociology of culture

    Areas of Expertise

    SOCIOLOGY

    • Social Stratification
    • Race and Ethnicity
    • Social Theory
    • Gender
    • Culture
    • Emotions
    • Comparative/Historical Field Methods
    • WWII—Holocaust
    • The Holocaust in Popular Culture
  • Work

    Work

    Jews in Germany after the Holocaust: Memory, Identity, and Jewish-German Relations (Cambridge University Press, 1997)

    With J. Petropoulos and J. Roth (eds.), Lessons and Legacies IX: Memory, History, and Responsibility: Reassessments of the Holocaust, Implications for the Future (Northwestern University Press, 2010).

    "Hang Hitler! The Three Stooges Take Potshots at Nazis," in 350 Years of Jews in Popular Culture (L. Greenspoon and R. Simkis, eds., University of Nebraska Press, 2007) (Revised version in Stoogeology, P Seely and G.W. Pieper, eds., McFarland Press, 2007)

    "Laughter and Heartache: The Functions of Humor in Holocaust Tragedy," in Gray Zones: Ambiguity and Compromise in the Holocaust and its Aftermath (J. Petropoulos and J. Roth (eds.), Berghahn Books, 2005)

    "The Holocaust in American Jewish Life," in The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism (D.E. Kaplan, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2005)

    "Holocaust Pornography: Profaning the Sacred in 'Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS,'" in Shofar, 22, Fall 2003. (Reprinted in S. Buttsworth and Maartje Abbenuis (eds.) Monsters in the Mirror: Representations of Nazism in Post-War Popular Culture, Praeger, 2010) forthcoming.

    "Hollywood's Holocaust: 'Schindler's List' and the Construction of Memory," Film and History, 32, 2002

  • Education

    Education

    Ph.D.
    Columbia University

    Bachelor of Arts
    University of Southern California

    Recent Courses Taught

    • History & Development of Sociological Theory I: The Classical Tradition
    • History & Development of Sociological Theory II: Contemporary Theories
    • Introduction to Sociology
    • Senior Thesis in Sociology
    • Sociology of Emotions
    • Women's Roles in Society
  • Awards & Honors

    Awards & Honors

    German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Study Visit Research Grant for Faculty, 1994

    American Sociological Association, Best Book Award in the Sociology of Religion for Jews in Germany after the Holocaust, 1998

    Society for the Study of Social Problems, C. Wright Mills Award Finalist for book Jews in Germany after the Holocaust, 1998

    Johns Hopkins University, The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Bosch Younger Scholars Fellowship, 1993-1994

    American Association of University Women (AAUW), Dissertation Fellowship, 1987-1988